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| Hiking | 5.36 Miles |
1,514 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.36 Miles | 7 Hrs 9 Mns | | 0.75 mph |
| 1,514 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | |  This is the BEEN THERE DONE THAT HIKE but with some very fond memories Which I would like to share with you.
The first time that I hiked this wonderful trail was around 18 years ago when my kids were still young. And back then this trail really was the begining of the my learning curve for hiking. All we had was a USFS map from 1986 and a few other tidbits of scant knowledge about this mysterious trail. Well after one exploratory hike that started on the Bluff Springs Trail (235) to the junction of the Cave Trail (233). Which at that time still had a trail sign. So up we went, with nothing but a map and compass and enough sense to know if we were not sure of where we were at we would just turn around and do it another time. Well we made it as far as the cliff face which is just North West of Cathedral Rock (3445). So we decided that we couldn't make it up that cliff. Then we decided to look around a wee bit, and we found ourselves at the base of 3445. And could see the caves and hikers that were coming down. I wanted to get up on top of the cliff and see if I could figure out where the trail went. So the following week we went up to Freemont Saddle, found our way to the Caves. And then the real fun began, we had our first encounter with what is known now as the Devils Slide. Man that is an adventure with some young kids in tow, and I was wondering how I was going to tell my wife that I lost a few of her darlings up on the mountain. We soon found ourselves at the edge of the so called TUB. Well we came up with a name for that rock from the Tub downwards. The Bald Mans Forehead and that was then a nice scramble and stil is. So after getting down that nice piece of AZ ROCK we headed to the trail went around the North side of the hump, then back to the trail. And eventually found our way to the cliff. Ok now we are on top of the Cliff and how do we get down. Well with a little searching we found what we know as the crack and found our way down. After that following the trail that we took a week ago it was just a short walk down the hill.
And we then did a lot of hikes over the next few years going up to the Cave from the Bluff Springs Trail. And even did it several times while being in AZ on vacation from CO. So last year I had to urge to go back up that trail again and play with the GPS on the trail, a luxury I didn't have 18 years ago. And that urge hit me again this year, but now I have TOPO for AZ and really wanted to track this trail. And really see how close it was to the dotted line on the TOPO map. Well I was quite surprised to see how really close it was to the map. I have one more trip on the agenda up there before it gets hot to see if I can finish up the one spot that doesn't match the lines.
Ok now for the summary of todays hike. It was real nice for I had a hiker meet me compliments of our forums and up we went. We only met two backpackers and their dog on the way up. And when heading for the cave we could see the masses starting to head up the Peralta. So we made our way to the slide and went down the bald mans forehead and found our way the rest of the way with no problem. Actually this was only my second time going down this trail. All of the other trips other than the first were uphill. And I think that the uphill is easier once you know your way. This trip also gave me one of the funniest signal bounces for the GPS that I ever had, I really can't remember the airborne flight across the Peralta Trail over the hoodoos and back to the cave. But it must of been fun.
I would like to thank Joe for the awesome write up about this trail. I sure wish I had this much information 18 years ago. |
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Well this will be my last triplog on Hike Arizona. Because I'm moving back to CO in February.
